The

Vinyl Closet

We rose to the challenge by J.D. Doyle of the Queer Music Heritage show and produced a Christmas song with a gay & lesbian flavour. This song celebrates Soho, London's own "gay village".

The Vinyl Closet is a an evening of musical entertainment and chat with Ted Brown on vocals, accompanied by Brett Lock and Chris Houston.

Ted, Brett and Chris perform songs rescued from the archives to reveal the surprising variety of representation both by and about LGBT people in popular music.

The format of the show centres around a musical performance of these great songs, with additional narrative about the context and significance of these songs as documents of LGBT experience and history.

The show will present some familiar songs in a fresh new light and introduce you to others lost in time.

The Vinyl Closet shines a light into the dusty musical closet of the pre-gay liberation era, investigating how queer gender and sexuality was represented on records.

In our 2013 show - "Back to the Blues" - we revisit the era of "Dirty Blues" where LGBT themes were not uncommon, and trace its influence on the birth of Rock and Roll, in which LGBT were not an inconsiderable part. From the clubs of Harlem, the shake, rattle and roll of the jukeboxes, to the international airwaves, we plot the evolution of the blues into early rock 'n' roll, keeping it brightly in-the-pink the whole way.

Click for high-res publicity photos

The Vinyl Closet album "Pink, Black & Blues" is now available for download!

"A spectacular presentation by LGBT campaigners Brett Lock and Ted Brown, in which they performed and discussed the sounds of the 1970s and 80s to uncover portrayals of LGBT lives in popular music. A superb end to the day that left the crowd wanting more."

GALHA News, October 2011

"The Vinyl Closet event last night was a fabulous and inspiring evening."

"This really was a very special event with much original material-brilliantly presented and an absolute treat."

"A very interesting and enjoyable evening. It was a pleasure to be informed and entertained by our shared heritage. Well done, all."

"This was a superb evening - very intimate and welcoming. Thanks!"

"Wonderfully informative and entertaining!"

"Really enjoyed the evening, looking forward to the next vinyl closet."